Winged termites are quite common during November, December and January.

Colonising flights happen every year at this time. This is one of the reasons that the termite risk to a structure changes over time. watch a video of termites flying in Camden near Sydney here.

Each year when temperatures start to rise to the high twenties and humidity starts to increase, termite colonies everywhere are preparing for a major event. Once a termite colony is mature (often five to seven years old) it can have an excess of members. Because of this and the natural desire to continue the termite race, a select few thousand and up to hundreds of thousands of termites start to grow wings in preparation for their once in a lifetime flight. When weather conditions are correct (very warm and humid) and generally around dusk, the termite alates (winged reproductive termites) burst forth from the nest in search of a mate and a place to start their own nest.

Once the termites have a nesting site and partner it takes some time before they actually start to cause damage to structures. at around five to seven years from inception the colony may contain as many as two million termites and be ready for its own colonising flights each year creating more individual colonies.